<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Snowdrops on the sideway by Ostodvandi</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22774390">Snowdrops on the sideway</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ostodvandi/pseuds/Ostodvandi'>Ostodvandi</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Dimilix Week 2020 [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Mythology, Angst, M/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-02-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-02-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-04-28 14:21:58</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,203</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22774390</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ostodvandi/pseuds/Ostodvandi</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Felix, protector of the wolves and servant of the moon, awakens to the night he waits for every year. It's the first night before winter, when Dimitri finally awakens from his slumber and they're reunited again.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd &amp; Edelgard von Hresvelg, Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd/Felix Hugo Fraldarius</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Dimilix Week 2020 [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1633846</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>52</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Snowdrops on the sideway</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Oh boy this is probably my favorite piece of Dimilix week. I've been waiting to write this for a loooong while and finally it's here! </p>
<p>For day 4 of Dimilix week, I chose the prompt "Myths".</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The verdant wind of summer is gone, the silver snow has started to fall a month ago, and the crimson flowers are buried under it, lying low until their chance to rise again comes. The azure moon of winter descends again and gives its servant his human name once more.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Felix opens his eyes like every night, this time to a snowy tundra under the light of the setting sun. He isn’t alone: The wolves in the forest know he is here, and run to his presence, surrounding him. Felix smiles, running his hands through their fur.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>‘Take me to him,’ he commands, and the wolves obey, running north of the forest. Felix adjusts the coat around his shoulders, and walks barefoot on the snow, following the lead of the animals.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>With every step, the ache in his chest grows, and that’s how he knows this is the right way to him: The yearning grows by the second, and he has spent the short nights of summer longing for the moment he was created for in the first place. He misses him, he misses him so badly that before he realizes it, he’s running with the wolves as fast as he can, and the snow doesn’t bury his feet. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Memories of nine months ago flash in his mind, the way Dimitri’s body fell to the ground after a swing of his sister’s axe, and his warm blood soaked the fields Edelgard would fill with flowers later. A sacrifice he was always willing to make, wounds that required nine months to heal.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Felix hates all of that, despite its inevitability. Seeing Dimitri be felled, time and time again, always too soon.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>But none of that matters now. The wolves take him to the northern sea, and their paws splash on the water like they can’t feel the cold as they head towards a cave hidden among the cliffs. Felix stops running, walking over the sand and the waves that arrive at his feet instead, white air coming out of his mouth as he tries to recover his breath, and the wolves wait outside, guarding the cave for him.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Despite everything, Felix hesitates before stepping into the cave. He can hear him breathe deeply, alive but asleep, in his animalistic form. When he takes his first step, a swarm of fireflies illuminates the way, their last task before perishing to the winter cold, and like with the wolves, Felix follows their lead and wolves walk right behind him.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>At the end of the cave, a giant boar sleeps soundly, covered with a coat of multiple furs stitched together. The wolves make a circle around him, under Felix’s watch, and howl as loud as they can, their voices filling the enclosed space to awaken the sleeping god.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Then, Dimitri’s body begins to morph, like a tree growing rapidly and in reverse. It shrinks, shakes, and Dimitri howls with the wolves, still prisoner of his dreams and his pain, begging for his beloved’s help. And Felix responds by walking to him, kneeling by his side, and holding his face between his hands.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He bends down, and breathes the fresh night air into Dimitri’s lungs with a kiss.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Wind rises inside the cave the instant the god of winter opens his single eye, blue as the morning sky, and Felix clings to him to not be blown away by its strength. After two seconds, the wind halts, and everything settles, and Dimitri’s hand rests on Felix’s back.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>‘Love,’ he calls, and Felix answers by sitting up and frowning, but allowing Dimitri’s fingers to intertwine with his own. ‘I dreamed of you…’</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>‘Get up, and dress yourself.’ Felix commands, trying to pull his eyes away from the other deity’s body. ‘Your duty starts today.’</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>‘Understood, my dear.’</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Dimitri gets up, picking up the clothes he left in one corner of the cave months ago, and Felix’s nose wrinkles when he grabs Dimitri’s cape. ‘It stinks. You stink.’</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>‘I apologize.’ The sheer sincerity on his voice is the most infuriating part, because apparently this man is incapable of being ill-spirited. ‘But perhaps a bath in the sea might help with that.’</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Felix shrugs. ‘It might.’</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>‘Would you like to join me?’</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Felix’s cheeks light up, and he orders the fireflies to vanish with a waving of his hand. ‘No.’</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>‘Understood, my love.’ </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Dimitri’s steps are still slow, having to get used to walking again after such a long hibernation, and Felix follows him, always close just in case his knees give in. Dimitri is big, and there is no way Felix can carry him properly, but he will be there just in case.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The god of winter walks into the freezing waters, unbothered by their temperature and leaving his clothes behind, and the wolves and Felix sit by them, the waves barely reaching Felix’s feet. Under the moonlight, he watches Dimitri bathe, the endless scars on his skin from centuries upon centuries of lost battles against his sister and using his own blood to bring life back into the world. His cackle of pure joy when he feels the winter wind on him again.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Felix lets his eyelids fall, enjoying the voice he has missed so much.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>There are several winter festivals they could attend every year, and after a fortnight, they arrive at one of them, and, as usual, the expression on Dimitri’s face softens immediately when he sees the children run around the village, wearing their thick winter furs and screaming excitedly about the start of the festivities. Their parents call them back inside their houses to keep them away from the night cold, and, eventually, all the children obey, giving Dimitri and Felix a fascinated look when they pass by.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Deep into the night, it starts snowing, and Dimitri watches the snowflakes fall onto Felix’s dark hair and eyelashes, standing out like pearls, and he feels his heart swell with warmth that has nothing to do with the missing sunlight.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>‘You’re beautiful.’ Felix never gets used to his sudden compliments, and Dimitri could never get tired of his embarrassed face, the pout of his lips, the frown of his eyebrows. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>‘Where did that even come from,’ he complains, looking away, and Dimitri laughs, simply hugging Felix from behind and wrapping him in his own cape, even if neither of them are bothered by the cold. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>‘I missed you, so so dearly. You were there, in almost all of my dreams… But nothing ever compares to having you in my arms again, my love.’</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Felix sighs, resting his back on Dimitri’s chest, and letting him kiss his cheek. He then turns his head around, allowing their lips to meet, and his fingers bury themselves in Dimitri’s hair.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>When the first ray of sunlight peeks over the horizon, and the moon starts fading away, Felix’s eyelids feel heavy and his mind is hazy. In moments like this, Dimitri holds him, watching over his beloved’s sleep, and tells him of his own dreams, the ones he doesn’t dare to tell him while he’s awake: Dreams in which they are other beings, worlds where they are human, worlds where he is a monster and world where Felix takes his life with a sword that glows silver and becomes a monster as well. Dreams so real he doesn’t think them to be just dreams.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>But the tales stop when sun falls, and Felix wakes up in Dimitri’s arms after a dreamless day.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The villagers are gathering around the fire when they show up again, and some teenagers stare at them before inviting them to the festivities. The couple sits down surrounded by humans, who are pouring warm soup with goat meat in what seems like an endless supply of bowls. Dimitri accepts one with a smile, out of politeness, and offers it to someone else as soon as he has taken a small sip.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Felix, however, likes the taste of meat, even if he doesn’t need it like humans do, so he indulges a little more on his plate under Dimitri’s amused gaze.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>‘Just like a wolf,’ Dimitri comments, chuckling, and paying no mind to Felix’s scowl.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>‘Well, of fucking course.’ </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>'I know.' Dimitri sighs, and offers Felix a joyless smile. There are no children around this late into the night, and Dimitri’s expression falters as he takes in that absence of childish glee around them. Still, he continues,  'It will never be a sight for our eyes, will it? But it's good to dream… Humans do it all the time, dreaming of things that seem impossible, and then achieving those dreams centuries later…'</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>'We're not like them,' Felix snaps, pulling his hand away from Dimitri's. 'Stop deluding yourself.'</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Stop looking at me like you're going to disappear the next moment, fool.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>There's still a month left, and Felix clings to it, to that moon cycle they still have left, like a starving man clings to the last scraps. There's still time. There still is something. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Dimitri puts his hands on Felix's shoulders, and kisses his hair. 'Next year, let me try and make you a crown of snowdrops.'</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Felix frowns at the mention of Dimitri's favorite flowers. 'What for?'</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>'You'd keep them lush and green through all the year,' Dimitri explains, his words barely audible to anyone else over the winter wind. Words that are solely for Felix. 'And you, just like them, will be my hope. Alive, even when nearly everything else around me falls.'</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Felix falls silent for a minute, arms crossed over his chest, until he finally sighs. 'A crown won't do. A bracelet… Would be better.'</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The grass has started to grow along the paths the god of winter and his companion walk, and some flowers and sprouts have appeared, as Dimitri’s body decays, exhausted and pained. He doesn’t speak beyond grunts, and his uncovered eye only looks forward, framed by deep grey bags despite the breaks they’ve taken on their way to the place. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Felix halts, and it takes Dimitri three steps to notice he isn’t walking by his side. His head turns around, slow like all the muscles in his body hurt. He grumbles. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>‘I’m not following you.’ Felix’s hands turn into fists, his nails digging into his skin until they sting with pain. ‘I’m not… watching you do that again.’ </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Dimitri’s eye widens, and the last winter breeze blows between them. He then proceeds to look forward, and drag his feet through the snow and frost that still remain on the soil.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>‘I won’t help you!’ Felix calls out, so Dimitri can hear him through the freezing cold. ‘I won’t carry you! I won’t put you to sleep! It’s not worth it! Why should I be doing this, every single goddamn year?! Dimitri!’ His steps halt when Felix calls his name, and, even more slowly than before, his whole body turns around to face Felix. ‘I’m tired.’ He grabs the bracelet on his wrist, and tears it, throwing it to the snowed earth. ‘Of waiting for you. Of hurting for you. I’m exhausted. Just leave and die already.’</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Dimitri stares at him, and then at the bracelet on the ground, the one he himself put together so painstakingly with Felix’s help, the snowdrops they had collected together. They won’t stay such a pure white for next winter.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>But that’s alright, because his only objective right now is killing his sister. And so, he keeps walking, leaving the snow peaks and the frosted earth behind, and his love as well, on the spot where Felix remains.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>‘Dimitri!’</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He disappears into a gale of icy wind, and Felix kneels on the ground, looking at the broken bracelet before him. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He picks it up, and looks around. There should be snowdrops left close by.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He has lost again. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Every year, it goes like this: Edelgard, the crimson flower of spring, buries her axe on his chest, and drags it down, slicing him open. The blood soaks the soil, feeding it, and the first spring flowers bloom under it.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Dimitri breathes in, a hand over the immense wound on him, another scar for another year. Another not quite death.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>'Felix,' he utters, because he can't stand without him, but he tries nonetheless, using his lance to stand, and if he can manage to keep his knees steady, then… 'F-Felix,' he cries, just a tired sob that he couldn't possibly hear.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Edelgard's steps sound closer, and he looks up at her sad violet eyes. 'Stand up, brother. Your companion is here.'</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Dimitri gasps, and Edelgard points behind him, to a figure hidden in the darkness of the trees and the night.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Felix. Felix has come back to him.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>With the help of his lance, he turns to him, and Felix reveals himself to the moonlight and the warring gods of the seasons. He gifts Edelgard a look of contempt and cold hate, but no words: those are only for Dimitri.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>With slow steps, Dimitri walks towards his love, until only a few centimetres are between them.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>'The bracelet… You…'</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>'Let's go, Dimitri.'</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Dimitri falls silent and nods, holding Felix's hand, and they walk away together.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>And, before he falls into another nine moons of solitary slumber, he is home.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I have <a href="https://twitter.com/Ostodvandi">a Twitter</a> in case you want to yell at me for this, or want to talk about how handsome Yuri is.</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>